school culture & the common core

School Culture& the Common Core

Abner OakesMENA Common Core Conference

Nov 1 & 2, 2013Dubai, UAE

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Balancingthe Topple Board

Environment

Instruction

Curriculum

Assessment

Standards

Created by Modern Red SchoolHouse

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Do Now

• Think of a favorite school and your first year there. Remember a story that someone told you that year – a story about the school, about someone there, about some important school activity or ritual. Turn to a partner and share with him or her that story. Please be ready to share with the rest of the group.

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Our learning targets

• Participants will be able to– Describe school culture– Identify ways that organizations build strong

culture– Describe the culture that aligns with effective

Common Core implementation– Plan for this school culture

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Ritz Carlton

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Ritz Carlton

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Ritz Carlton’sService Values

• I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life. • I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes

and needs of our guests. • I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal

experiences for our guests. • I understand my role in achieving the Key Success Factors,

embracing Community Footprints and creating The Ritz-Carlton Mystique.

• I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve The Ritz-Carlton experience.

• I own and immediately resolve guest problems.

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Telling stories

• Howard Gardner in Leading Minds: "Stories speak to both parts of the human mind – its reason and emotion…[they] constitute the single most powerful weapon in the leader's literary arsenal."

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KIPP

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KIPP

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KIPP

• All KIPP students identified by college graduation year

• College banners throughout KIPP schools• Teachers’ classrooms identified by college

attended• KIPP Through College

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School culture

• School culture is its climate, atmosphere, values

• Collins and Porras call it “core ideology…the enduring character of an organization – a consistent identity that transcends product or market life cycles, technological breakthroughs, management fads, and individual leaders.”

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Hay Group’s“reinforcing behaviors”

• Rituals: celebrations & ceremonies, rites of passage, & shared quirks & mannerisms

• Hero-making: role models, hierarchies, public rewards, & mentors

• Story-telling: shared humor, common anecdotes, foundation myths, & oral & written history

• Rules: etiquette, formal rules, taboos, & tacit permissions

• Symbolic display: decoration, artwork, trophies, & architecture

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Tabor Academy

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Balancingthe Topple Board

Environment

Instruction

Curriculum

Assessment

CCSS

Created by Modern Red SchoolHouse

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Common Core’sPedagogical Shifts

• ELA/Literacy

– Balance informational and literary texts– Knowledge in the disciplines– Staircase of complexity– Text-based answers– Writing from sources– Academic vocabulary

(For more information, see www.engageNY.org)

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Common Core’sPedagogical Shifts

• Mathematics

– Focus– Coherence– Fluency– Deep understanding– Application– Dual intensity

(For more information, see www.engageNY.org)

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Teachers& the Common Core

• What do you hear that demands a shift in culture?

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Next steps

• Get a baseline– School culture protocol

• Prioritize– The Common Core & the shifts

• Develop an action plan

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School cultureprotocol

• All school personnel understand and are committed to the mission, vision, and school culture-related activities.– The hiring and onboarding process for all school personnel

is aligned with the mission, vision, and school culture.– The evaluation process for all school personnel is aligned

to the spirit and letter of the mission, vision, and school culture.

– The day-to-day activities of school personnel reflect the school’s mission, vision, and school culture.

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HiringActivity People responsible Due date Resources Evidence

Revise phone interview questions to align with culture

Principal and upper school head

Jan 2, 2014 Current phone interview questions

The set of questions

Revise campus interview schedule to include grade level team members

The upper school’s grade level leaders

Feb 2, 2014 None Example of schedule

Revise campus interview schedule to include students

Upper school head and school counselor

Feb 2, 2014 None Example of schedule

Develop training for students for their interviews

School counselor Feb 2, 2014 Sample questions from Agnes Martin HS

Training materials

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School cultureprotocol

• Instruction is rigorous and supports the school’s culture.– Rigorous and student-centered, instruction is aligned to

the mission, vision, and school culture.– Instruction reflects the pedagogical shifts brought on by

the Common Core State Standards.– All tools used to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-

level instruction are aligned to the school culture.– Professional development for instruction is aligned to

the school’s mission, vision, and school culture.

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Instruction:Common Core

Activity People responsible Due date Resources Evidence

Identify informational texts being used, with difficulty level

Grade level chairs Jan 2, 2014 Curriculum documents List of texts

Identify percentage of usage of informational vs. literary at grade levels

Grade level chairs Jan 2, 2014 Curriculum documents List of texts and percentages

Develop lists of new informational texts for grade levels

Grade level teams Feb 2, 2014 Common Core documents; sample lists from other schools

List of texts

Identify new informational texts to be piloted at grade levels

Grade level teams Mar 2, 2014 None List of texts

Develop PD for use of new texts

Grade level teams Mar 2, 2014 Sample PD materials, if found

Training materials

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Changing culture

• Fullan: “Re-culturing is a contact sport that involves hard, labor-intensive work.”

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Re-culturing

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Balancingthe Topple Board

Environment

Instruction

Curriculum

Assessment

Standards

Created by Modern Red SchoolHouse

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Our learning targets

• Participants will be able to– Describe school culture– Identify ways that organizations build strong

culture– Describe the culture that aligns with effective

Common Core implementation– Plan for this school culture

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Lastly

• What did you learn?• What surprised you?• What was I missing?

Abner Oakes, PrincipalOakes Educational Consulting

Aoakes4@gmail.com